Carrara-Rudolph, the lady of a hundred voices, cuts off her puppet creation with a laugh. She's bringing her show "Leslie and Lolly Make Stuff Up" to Orlando Repertory Theatre as part of its birthday celebration this weekend, July 26-27.

"Lesley and Lolly Make Stuff Up" was developed by Carrara-Rudolph and Central Floridian John B. DeHaas. The roughly 50-minute show deals with self-expression and self-esteem, especially as they relates to being bullied.

"I champion individuality through the arts," says Carrara-Rudolph, who splits her time between New York and California. "I use voice, imagination, body to help kids express themselves. They can see how much fun it is to make up a song."

Carrara-Rudolph, who lived in Central Florida for about six years in the 1990s, is making a return to the Rep's stage.

"She's just an amazing performer," Revels says. "Back in the Civic Theatre days, I sat in the audience several times watching her. She was astonishing."

The Civic Theatre was the precursor to the Rep in the building at Orlando's Loch Haven Park. There, Carrara-Rudolph starred in "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," the famed one-woman show originally written for Lily Tomlin.

She followed that up with her own one-woman show, "Life In Other People's Shoes."

"The title sounds a lot deeper than what was happening on stage," Carrara-Rudolph says. "But it was a lot of fun. For part of it, I wore a beard and flippers and was a sea monkey."

She also worked at Walt Disney World, playing Dolly Drew in the long-running "Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue" and various characters at the now-shuttered Adventurers' Club at Pleasure Island.

She was cast as Abby Cadabby in 2006 after working on the television show "Muppets Tonight."

"I just love her heart," Carrara-Rudolph says of Abby. "Last year, her parents got divorced and she wondered if it was her fault. It was hard for me. I felt so bad for her."

Says Revels: "It has been really exciting to watch her come into her own in the puppetry world. I knew Abby Cadabby had made it when I saw she had her own balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. That's how you know you're a cultural touchstone."

The Rep's Birthday Celebration

• What: A weekend of shows preceded by games, crafts, character meet-and-greets and cupcakes.

• Featured shows: "Leslie and Lolly Make Stuff Up," featuring Leslie Carrara-Rudolph; "The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful (And Her Dog)," a musical outer-space adventure; and "Crazy for You," the Rep's Youth Academy production of the musical featuring the songs of George and Ira Gershwin.

• Where: Orlando Repertory Theatre, 1001 E. Princeton St., Orlando

• When: Saturday-Sunday, July 26-27. Showtimes on July 26: "Leslie and Lolly" at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., "Crazy for You" at 2 and 7 p.m., "Dr. Wonderful" at 2:30 p.m. Showtimes on July 27: "Dr. Wonderful" at 1 p.m., "Crazy for You" at 2 p.m., "Leslie and Lolly" at 3 p.m.

• Cost: "Leslie and Lolly" and "Dr. Wonderful" are $10 each; "Crazy for You" is $15. A two-show summer pass is $20, a three-show pass is $25. Passes are not sold online.

Orlando Repertory Theatre's 2014-15 season will include a tribute to the American Civil War as arts organizations salute the 150th anniversary of the conflict's conclusion. A play, storytelling events and a staged reading will be part of the Rep's Civil War Sesquicentennial Project, which begins...